Friday, 28 August 2015

Police set up anti-kidnap task force

The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone Six,
which has its headquarters in Calabar, Cross River State, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin,
has said that Zonal Task Force has been set up to combat kidnapping, militancy,
oil theft, armed robbery and sea piracy. Ogunsakin said this on Thursday in
Calabar during a meeting with service commanders and state governments within
the zone, which comprises Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi and Cross River. The AIG
said the command had to form a formidable force to combat crime within the
zone. Ogunsakin said, “The activities of sea pirates, militants, kidnappers,
armed robbers and cultists are threatening the lives of the people, especially
those within the riverine areas. “As a zone, we decided to come together to map
out a strategy to checkmate and overwhelmingly quell the activities of sea
pirates and militants by establishing a ZTF outfit. “The Inspector General of
Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has given us a Bell 412 surveillance helicopter to
effectively help combat these heinous crimes within our jurisdiction.” He said
the ZTF would be operational in four states in the zone while the helicopter
would have its operational base in Calabar. “We are collaborating with the
Nigerian Navy, Army and the Department of State Security to help us actualize
our goal of effectively policing the zone. “The DSS will be highly relied upon
to complement police intelligence outfit for intelligence which will help to
focus the patrol and give proper direction to men in the field.” “The Navy will
help increase in the general security in the riverine areas and forestall the
use of the waterways as gateways after crime,” Ogunsakin explained. The AIG
said the objective of the collaboration with other security agencies was to
ensure that criminals were chased out of the zone. He said the Rivers State
Government had promised to provide communication equipment to link the joint
operations room with air and land troops. Ogunsakin appealed to the governors
of the states under the zone to assist the ZTF financially in maintaining the
security vehicles and the aircraft. The meeting had in attendance commissioners
of police in the zone, representatives of DSS, Army and Navy.